Account problemsQ: How do I contact someone to sort out the problems I am having with my account?

A: When you register you should be sent an email that contains a link to activate your account. It is for this reason essential that you register with a valid email address.

If you do not receive an email within a reasonable amount of time please check your junk filter. If you still don't receive your e-mail please let us know.

If you have received the email but the link is not working try copying and pasting the full link in to your web browser address bar. If the link is on two lines make sure you copy it all.

N.B. If this doesn't work then send us an email so that we can activate your account for you: web@fancyratsforum.co.uk
Do not open a second account to get around the problem as that would be breaching the forum rules.

Important: Please tell us your username!

Username changesQ: Can I change my username?

A: Due to the number of people who request name changes, the time this takes and the confusion it causes, we are only able to do this where there is a clear and valid reason for the change.

We will review username changes on a case by case basis. Simply fancying a change will not be considered a valid reason and will be rejected. If you feel you have a valid reason for wishing to change your username, please PM Fancy Rats Admin and the moderators will consider your request.

Spambot postsQ: I sometimes come across inappropriate and obscene posts within the forum that have not been posted by regular members. What should I do if I see one of these?

A: The forum uses a variety of anti spambot devices but it is possible that occasionally these might stil find ways to access the boards. They are not human beings and are done automatically, so there is no point in replying to any of these threads.

If you see one please report the thread using the exclamation mark in the inverted triangle at the bottom of the post. It will then be dealt with by a member of the team.

Shortening linksQ: when posting long links on the forum how can I reduce them to make them easier for people to use.

A: Because of the problems long links can cause to other forum users (interferring with page formatting) we do ask that all long links are shortened as follows:

Once you are logged in to Photobucket, click 'browse' and select the photo you wish to upload on your computer. Then click 'submit' and wait for your photo's to upload.

When your photos are uploaded, select the 3rd line underneath the thumbnail (small version of the photo) of the picture you want to post, and copy it by right clicking on the selected text:

Post your pictures on the forum by pasting (right click and 'Paste') the text into the message body of the post.

Resizing photographs and creating avatarsQ: I need to make my photographs smaller to post them but I don't know how. Can you help?

A: Avatars should be no larger than 120 x 120 pixels. Ideally, pictures should be no larger than about 640 x 480 pixels. To find the actual size of your pics - just right click and select Properties.

How to resize and crop:-
Most people use photo editing software such as Microsoft Paint, PSP or Corel to crop & resize pics.

Don't forget, if you have already uploaded the larger version of the pic to photobucket - you will need to rename the file before uploading the smaller version back up to photobucket.

How to reduce photos using ms Paint:-
If your pics are huge, right click on them and select open with Paint.
When Paint is open and displaying your pic, select Image at the top and click on Attributes from the pull down menu.

There you will see the height and width of your pic, in inches, cm or in pixels. It doesn't matter which you use, just reduce it and click OK
Then go to File, and Save As - and save it either as the same filename, or change the name if you want to keep the original size too.

To use the pic as your avatar, go to your profile, and paste the link to your picture into the 'Link to off-site Avatar' box. Click submit, and the picture will appear below your name on the forum.

Photobucket now has a new feature that makes sizing your images to fit the forum much easier. If you do not have the programs to resize your photos before uploading, or do not know how, Photobucket will do it for you.

On the upload screen just underneath the box for the filename click on "Uploading Options". Now select "Message Board ( 640 x 480 )" for photos to go in posts or "Avatar ( 100 x 75 )" for an avatar. Upload photos as usual and they will be resized automatically.

Adding smilies to signaturesQ: How do I add smilies to my signature?

A: You have to add the code for the smilies into your post or signature.

These are the smilies:

If you look at the corresponding code below, you will see the code for making each of the above smilies. *You need to add a colon ( : ) immediately before and after each word to enable the smilie. So : angryrat : with the spaces deleted.

angryrat sick smile halo halloween

sleepy baby teen love hearts

girly olddoe oldbuck dumbobaby dumbogirly

dumboteen dunce rattyrainbow birthday sad

Why does it say *please do not swear* in some posts?

Fancy Rats has a word censor, so when someone uses a swear word (swearing is against the rules) the forum automatically replaces it with the word *please do not swear* in order to minimise the offence it could cause to other members. Please note that this does not mean you can swear to hearts content and let the forum take care of it, you must still refrain from swearing in the first place.

Why can't I edit my posts?

There is a 15 minute limit on editing in place. This means that once your post is 15 minutes old, your edit facility is removed. This is to stop content of posts being deleted via the edit facility. If you really need to edit some details in your post, please PM Fancy Rats Admin and we'll do it for you.

How can I stop animations on pages, including avatars?

Pressing the ESC key will stop all animations (e.g. moving avatars) on that page. This is temporary.

Fancy Rats Admin is not liable for any issues experienced by members, through following these instructions, correctly or incorrectly. Please note that this will stop animations on all pages, not just this forum!